Most “unskilled labor” is heavily skill dependant. You wouldn’t want a chef, builder or painter who didn’t know what they were doing. And for production: machinists, mechanics and foremen make or break profit with their skills.
So what’s a better name for these jobs?
Edit: I have been told that plumbers don’t qualify as unskilled, and as such they have been exchanged for painter.
That is precisely the point.
The term “Unskilled labor” is derogatory, misleading, and commonly used to suppress wages. My question is if there’s something better we can call it to reclaim the power of the word, and break the cycle of abuse?
You don’t seem to understand what is generally referred to as unskilled labour. You keep using trades as the example, and multiple people have pointed out that those professions have other terms that are used.